There. I've said it out loud. How do I feel? The answers might surprise you.

To quote Billy Crystal doing Fernando Lamas, "It's more important to look good than to feel good." I look pretty good when I'm all put together, which takes way too long. However, my tummy, no matter the angle in the mirror, is bigger than my chest and gaining on my behind. I obsess about it. Hip-huggers and Jane Fonda are my enemies.

When I was young and newly married, my then-husband and I would go to the Cubs games early, take the Sunday papers, sit in the bleachers, and watch batting practice before the games. I don't remember any drunkenness, painted faces, shirtlessness or bleacher bums.

Congratulations to Terry Dean on nine years of reporting on education for Wednesday Journal. As he moves to new interests, it's important to note that he did a terrific job with both the news and the (endless) details involved in local school governance and programming. Not to mention the loong (I have to mention that my Spell Check tried to change this to "loony") meetings.

About a month ago, this paper published an article on a school survey called the 5Essentials. None of the local districts took the survey except District 97 and, according to the article, "Students and faculty take the survey, but D97's student response rates at most of the schools were so low that no results are available." The article does not say how many teachers responded but goes on to talk about results. Huh?

I haven't owned a car for about three years. It's not because of the environment; I was trying to save money. I used buses, taxis and Zipcar, which you rent by the hour. I picked up cars either at the Harlem/Lake parking lot or the Ridgeland Green Line station parking lot.

Sales Associate Fleet Feet Sports–Oak Park, named one of the Top 50 Running Stores in America, is currently hiring Sales Associates. If you are a runner, triathlete, multisport athlete or someone dedicated to fitness, this could be your dream...